Reading Response 2 – Symbiosis

Prompt – Write a couple paragraphs about the degree of symbiosis you might have with a specific device.  Think about the flow of reliance, what do you offer the device?  Are you empowered by the relationship or have you become so reliant that without it, you would be lost?  Relate your relationship to some of the issues Linklider brings up, positive or negative.

Response-  Finding symbiosis in my daily interactions with technology is a bit difficult for me. This isn’t because I don’t feel like I rely on any device, but more because I feel like no device relies on me. With my smartphone, for instance, I use it to contact others, to save me when I’m lost, to access a nearly endless repository of knowledge, to entertain me, to help me go to sleep, to help me wake up, to tell me what time it is, to record items, things, or memories, to help me with basic math, and even to control other devices. I feel as though, in many respects, this device has replaced functions that I’m capable of by simply being better and faster at them by such a large margin it would be foolish not to use it. When I first read about man-computer symbiosis, I scoffed at the idea. Not because it’s ridiculous or impossible, but because humans have almost nothing to offer machines. Upon reflection, though, there is symbiosis of a sort, though a fairly rudimentary kind.

There is no question that humans have become increasingly reliant upon technology. This is, however, largely a construct of human society, specifically escalation. Businesspeople only need cell phones because other businesspeople do, and it is expected of them. Responding to an e-mail immediately is only necessary because that is the culture we have created. All of the major ideas in modern smartphones were created originally for convenience but have become a necessity. In that sense, yes, without my smartphone I’d be lost. People would stop receiving texts from me and panic, I wouldn’t know a class was canceled until I had gotten there, and if I were to get lost I would have to ask for directions…and actually LISTEN. I am not as reliant on my devices as some are though. I’ve seen family members be unable to sleep without their smartphone, and unable to leave it alone for more than 30 minutes. Yes, we have all become reliant on our devices in a way, but that isn’t the device’s fault so much as it is our culture’s. In this way, I suppose I am empowered by the device, but as these devices become commonplace the relationship changes from one of advantage to one of necessity. That is, having one of these devices becomes less an advantage as not having one becomes a handicap.

As far as whether our devices are reliant on us, and to what extent, is a different point entirely. They are reliant upon us to some extent undeniably. Without us, these machines and devices would not exist. I have nothing to do with that, however, nor does the average person. To an increasing extent, our devices are being made by other devices as well and soon will probably be made with only minimal human intervention. Beyond that, humans create and invent new and unique iterations of machines and devices that will be used elsewhere. Other than that, computers and machines have reached a point where they don’t necessarily need human input to do anything. Most computers are designed around people, serving as devices facilitating access to the services that we have all grown so accustomed to, but they no longer truly require constant baby. A window, if you will, to the world that these devices live in. Humans create different routines for computers and smartphones and other gadgets to run and give them instructions, but yet again the prevailing trend of computing is toward teaching computers how to do things for themselves. I haven’t yet done any of these things to the point that my service to my smartphone would be comparable to its service for me. I am unable to repair it if it gets damaged, as I lack the skills, tools, and knowledge, I don’t know how to program for it and can only give it instructions the way outlined by its help texts and user manuals. There is one very important thing I do for my computers and my smartphone, however- I feed it. The one thing that all humans can be absolutely certain they provide for their electronic devices is sustenance. Without us, they would simply be empty cases waiting for electricity.

In this way, I feel as though there really isn’t a symbiotic relationship to be had. In Licklider’s essay, he seemed to cast computers and humans as partners working toward a mutual goal of co-operation and integration. I see this relationship as more of parental role. We gave birth to these machines, we instilled within the most prized of our traits – hard work, knowledge, quick thinking, and are attempting to teach them adaptability – and as they grow, so too do we diminish, pouring our resources into our intellectual offspring and building our lives around it, nurturing and feeding it while it quickly makes us obsolete. Licklider seemed to think that computers would always be doing the heavy lifting and number crunching while humans did the improvisation and guesswork. This hypothesis has remained solid until this point, but as computing technology improves, they become disturbingly adept in the fields we were confident to be the masters of. Licklider himself mentions that at some point artificial intelligence will outstrip humanity as the dominant intellect on this planet, and I’m beginning to think that may happen sooner rather than later, with humanity slaving away at mundane tasks to feed their bloated silicon children. Or, perhaps we will abandon artificial intelligence altogether, choosing to integrate ourselves directly with our computerized cohorts, and stopping the machine’s rise by become the machine ourselves. Perhaps I’ve been too exposed to science fiction, but when a machine moves things for me, talks to me, teaches me things, socializes for me, and does everything else for me, how much of a stretch is it wonder if it will start thinking for me?